Brooker’s Case Mill
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Brooker’s Case Mill
Built to Last: Brooker’s Boxes and Cases
Tucked away behind his home on Hendy Street, Albert “Nugget” Brooker carved out a vital role in Woodford’s timber industry during the 1940s and ’50s. Specialising in banana and pineapple cases, the small but hardworking sawmill kept up with demand during wartime shortages and booming local trade. With his son Edgar and a tight-knit team by his side, Brooker’s Case Mill became a trusted name, stamping Woodford’s produce—and pride—on crates sent far beyond town.
Axeman Albert Brooker taking a rest while falling a Red Stringy Bark tree.
A Start in the Sawmill
Edgar Brooker left school at 14 to join his father’s mill crew. He worked there until age 21 and recalled that the 1940s and ’50s were booming years for local employment. “In those days every young man could always get a start in a mill, at the butter factory or Woodford Motors,” Edgar reflected later in life.
Brooker’s Wartime Solution
During World War II, timber shortages pushed many mills to the brink. Albert “Nugget” Brooker responded by cutting white gum—plentiful in local forests—and turning it into quality timber for Brisbane builders. As long as it was cut right and strapped tight, it did the job. This ingenuity kept the mill running through challenging times.
Hendy Street Local
Albert “Nugget” Brooker was born and bred in Woodford, calling Hendy Street home for much of his life. By 1942, he was already juggling multiple roles—running a poultry farm and working as an owner truck driver—before adding sawmilling to his legacy. His strong work ethic and deep roots in the community made Nugget a well-known and respected local figure.
Brooker’s old house in George Street, Woodford
Brookers Case Sawmill 1940’s or 1950’s.
Left to Right Lionel Maroske, Albert Brooker, Edgar Brooker
Family Powered
The Mill Crew
The Hendy Street mill was small but mighty—run by Nugget, his son Edgar (also nicknamed Nugget), and family friend Lionel Maroski. Driven by an old MacDonald diesel engine, the team worked hard to fill orders for timber cases, often sourced from nearby farms like those of Wally Campbell and Neil Herps.
Edgar Brooker
son of Albert Brooker
Albert ‘Nugget’ Brooker had a case sawmill at 7 Hendy Street, Woodford where he cut timber for mainly banana and pineapple cases. The flooded gum logs were mainly sourced from the farms of Wally Campbell and Neil Herps.
Edgar Brooker (Albert’s son) started working in his father’s mill at the age of 14 and worked there till he was about 21. Edgar was also known as ‘Nugget’.
Work was plentiful in the 1940s and 1950s, and Edgar stated,
‘In those days every young man could always get a start in a mill,
at the butter factory or Woodford Motors’.
Ron Trim
Local Historian Recalls
During the war years, Nugget Brooker set up a case mill in Hendy Street but in the war years, timber became so short that builders from Brisbane asked him if he could supply them with any species of timber.
There was no shortage of white gum in the Forestry, so he started on that, and with making sure it was cut right, and strapped tight, it did the job. The mill was driven by an old Macdonald diesel engine and the staff was Nugget, Edgar and Lionel Maroski.
1964: Railcar 200 at Woodford heading for Brisbane, Photo J Armstrong.
Note: name on foreground pineapple cases: A E Brooker Woodford
Albert Ernest Brooker (1907-1972)
Brooker’s old house in George Street, Woodford
1940s: Nugget Brooker and his homemade tractor
Brookers Case Mill with workers
Mo Maroski, Nugget & Edgar Brooker
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